Hospital Stretchers Market

Hospital Stretchers Market - Snapshot

A stretcher is also known as a “patient trolley” or “gurney”. It is a medical device on which a patient lies for transportation from one place to another in a hospital or to hospital or from hospital.  There a wide variety of stretchers available in the market and their design is dependent on the use to which the stretcher is being put. A stretcher might come as simple as the ones used in emergency rescue or military conflicts essentially.

Hospital-based stretchers are used for a wide variety of purposes, which is likely to trigger growth of the global hospital stretchers market in years to come. These stretchers come in wide varieties, from simple to highly complicated ones. The complicated hospital stretchers incorporate features like hydraulically powered mechanisms for the adjustment of height of the stretcher and position of the mattress and physiological monitors.

Presence of Feature-rich Hospital Stretchers to Pave Way for its Growth

The global hospital stretchers market is going through continuous development is expected to continue with this trend in the years to come. The hospitals go for costlier models that come with complex features, such as compatibility with X-ray imaging devices or motorized drives. Stretchers that are fitted with a motorized drive are able to assist hospital staff in moving the stretchers with bariatric patients. As such, it can diminish the possibility of back strain for caregivers. A stretcher compatible with X-ray is extremely useful as staff do not need to move a patient to another surface for an X-ray.

There are many types of stretchers. Some of which are

• Automatic Loading Ambulance Stretcher
• Aluminum Alloy Folding Stretcher
• Funeral Stretcher
• Multifunctional Rescue Stretcher
• Spine Board
• Stainless Basket Stretcher
• Floating tank
• Emergency Bed
• Carry Sheet

The global hospital stretchers market is likely to be driven by number of day care surgeries and ambulatory care services, growing geriatric population base, and augmented prevalence of chronic disorders.

Hospital stretchers are patient transport apparatus used for transportation of a patient safely within a healthcare center or facility. In the current scenario, other than patient transportation, hospital stretchers are also being used as hospital beds, surgical platform and for inspection or examination desk. Hospital stretchers market is well established, however, increasing demand for technology-enabled hospital stretchers owing to rising incidences of chronic diseases and geriatric population is expected to fuel the growth of this market. The hospital stretchers market report is focused towards identifying the current scenario as well as future market potential for hospital stretchers globally. The hospital stretchers market has been segmented as per three parameters, such as, product types, technology and applications. On the basis of product types, the market is divided into fixed height, adjustable, bariatric, and radiographic and other types of stretchers. Further, on the basis of technology, hospital stretchers market is subdivided into motorized and non-motorized stretchers. Based on applications, hospital stretchers market is categorized as intra-hospital transport, emergency department, day care surgery department, pediatric surgery department, and radiology department hospital stretchers. These stretchers are used not only for patient transportation, but also for many of specialized purposes and in many departmental operations, such as MRI and others.

Of all the above mentioned hospital stretchers, bariatric stretchers have been anticipated as the fastest growing segment during the forecast period from 2013 to 2019, at a CAGR of 5.9%. According to the Centre for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC), 34.9% of the U.S. population is obese, and annual medical cost of obesity treatment in the U.S. was around USD 147 billion, in 2008. Additionally, as per an article published by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, more than 40% of the U.S. population would be categorized as obese by 2015. Hence, rising obese population have propelled the growth of bariatric stretchers that can withstand weight up to 700 pounds. Hence, fastest growth rate of this segment is identified on the basis of year on year growth of obese patients globally and rising demand for carrying such patients with an ease from a point-of-view of patient as well as healthcare providers. Similarly, the market for adjustable (motorized and technologically advanced) stretchers is also expected to grow in upcoming period, owing to increasing demand for innovative and automated hospital stretchers by multi-specialty and super-specialty hospitals. Also, adjustable stretchers provide ease of operation to the healthcare providers. 

Geographically, the hospital stretchers market is segmented as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW). Presently, the North American region is the largest market in the world, owing to presence of large number of manufacturers, increasing population with chronic diseases and world-class medical infrastructure. Likewise, rising number of day care surgeries due to growing demand for elective procedures and reduction in cost by 50% in these surgeries are major factors expected to drive the market growth in the near future. However, Asia-Pacific region is considered as the most promising markets in the forecast period 2013 to 2019. Rapid evolution of medical tourism industry in countries (such as India, Thailand, Singapore and others) and rising geriatric population which are more prone to diseases are some of the key reasons accentuating the growth of this market. Moreover, presence of large population base which consequently gives rise to patient population, rapid development of medical infrastructure, large number of natural and man-made disasters and increased healthcare awareness are other factors that are indirectly increasing the demand for hospital stretchers in the Asia-Pacific region.

The market for hospital stretchers is highly fragmented and each segment of the market is dominated by a select number of players. For instance, the market for adjustable hospital stretchers is dominated by Hill Rom Holdings, Inc., Stryker Corporation and TransMotion Medical, Inc. The market for fixed height stretchers is dominated by Anetic Aid Limited, Gendron, Inc. and Stryker Corporation. Hill Rom Holdings, Inc., Gendron, Inc., Medline Medical Equipment, Inc. are the prominent players in bariatric stretchers market, whereas, radiographic stretchers market is controlled by market leaders, such as, M.T. Medical Technology S.r.l., Karismedica S.p.A. Additionally, large number of regional players are existing in the market, which also contributes to the growth of entire industry.